John of OpFor requested this post:

Richard S. Lowry, author of Marines in the Garden of Eden and the Gulf War Chronicles was generous enough to donate two personalized copies of each book to Valour-IT. Please include these two links in your next Valour-IT update:

Marines in the Garden of Eden

Gulf War Chronicles

Auction Proceeds will go to Valour-IT, but no specific team. One team, one fight and all that. Zoom!

Don’t forget to check this link for the auction up at Truth Laid Bear, where Team Navy is putting all sorts of goodies of historical value up for bids!

Trackbacked to: Outside the Beltway.

Revillie, REVILLE! All hands heave out and trice up!

Today is a decision day. Yes, local and national seats are up for election, but the inertia imparted in that mess rolling downhill has been imparted and with minor exception, the die is cast. We will jst have to wait out today to see the results.

My directive of the day: Do something constructive and forget about chewing your fingernails down to the quick, trying to figure out which party will control the House and the Senate, or the 30+ governorships.

What to do? Get back on task, because, Sgt Hook told us a few days ago, there is a more important mission. Nothing like a crusty old senior enlisted, tempered in the fires of the school of hard knocks to get he “Os” back on focus.

Valour-IT. Huge success last year. Beth said “Goal of $22K.” The Type As among us took that to read “$22K per service team.” Wisely she kept her mouth shut and kept us in the dark until the end, then told us what she really meant, about $108K later. we didn’t have a lot of press coverage, we had bloggers contacting everyone they knew and posting about it. My point? This year, we’re not on the flight path for a smooth landing.

Smadanek’s blog has been tracking our progress, as a whole and as teams. Capt Lex, with all his years of staring at “ROGER, BALL!” on the blunt end of a big gray thing (called “Mother” and kept afloat by those unnamed heroes wearing black shoes), would, metaphorically see himself looking at a red lower half of a circle and be hearing a frantic Landing Signal Officer on the radio yelling “Power! POWER!” if his plane is where we are now.

It comes down to this: We need to consider the warrior pledge, where soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines know no one gets left behind. We can’t afford, after the sacrifices these wounded men and women have made, to psychologically leave them on that battlefield where their wounds reshaped their lives forever. we have the means to help them see they can be productive in the job market, and they are no less important than Steven Hawking. We can give them a voice to express their ideas, to write reports, to carry on conversations, to tell their stories, to rech out to others, to provide hope where there seems to be none.

Enough for now. get to the polls, cast your vote and get back on task. If you’re signed on as part of the Navy Team and you don’t have a lengthy email titled “A few days left” from me, get me your address, and I’ll forward it.

One idea has come in overnight worth sharing: Enrevanche says try matching funds. For those who can afford it, it may pull a few more dollars through the door.

The last thought: Make contacts, today and throught the end of this drive, like some service member”s future depends on you.

Update: 8/11/2006: More thoughts here.

Trackbacked to: Outside the Beltway, Sgt Hook.

Comms are down!

My domain hosting service is on again/off again for email at the moment.

Sending in the blind: Keep chasing everyone you know down and flaunt the auction (it may be our saving grace for crossing the finish line)

Operate independently: No captain who lays his ship alongside that of the enemy will be wrong (or something like that!)!

On PRWeb, the official Valour-IT press release exists.

How about spread it about liberally. Send it to any and all radio/TV station managers web address, or, if you can’t find any one in particular, try sending it to the postmaster or info or webmaster address, asking that it be relayed to the appropriate office. The larger and/or more active sites will most likely see it in time to get the word around the coffee pot (or Coke machine n this era) before Saturday.

Get over to Ken’s Blog,a href=”http://smadanek.blogspot.com/”>Smadanek (when this is over, I’ll ask him where that moniker came from…) to see how we are trending towards the goal. The Official Valour-IT bean counters site! WOOOHOOO!

Get on it…and…get people pointed at the auctions, and shameless promote Lex’s hard copy of “Rhythms!”

OK, the kind owner of Truth Laid Bear, NZ Bear, has set up an auction page for us. No as formal as ebay, but, there are some incredible items to be had.

Here’s the deal: Those of us focused on the Valour-IT fiund raiser at close rnage will know about this. Those wandering about in the rest of the universe will not. Your assignment, kind readers, is to spread the word far and wide and close by, to get the juices flowing.

The Auction page location is here. Clikc on the the link, I dare you…and, get youe wallet ready!

At this very moment, it appears that the only takers are the Navy, with 13 items up for bid. at least we’re ahead somewhere! GO TEAM NAVY!

Chapomatic has graced us with a set of four wine goblets from COMSUBGRU SEVEN, posters of USS TEXAS, a SAC and a USN Challenge Coin.

Bubblehead of “The Stupid Shall Be Punished” blog has coins and a key chain from the pre-comm unit for USS SEAWOLF (SSN-21). This is a “class ship” (names the class of units that follow) of the subs built after the LOS ANGELES (SSN-688) Class.. Little pieces of history here. Great for military collectors.

Jason of has listed two copies of the book “No HIgher Honor,” the story of the USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (FFG-58) when she hit the mine in the Persian Gulf. Exceptionally well written, balancing detail with readability. Reviews on his site from the crewmen compliment him for telling the story well. Brad Peniston (the author), with personalize each copy for the purchaser when he signs them before shipment. Brad was responsible for connecting Valour-IT to the Army Times reporter who got the story on the web and I understand it will be in print this week.

Neptunus Lex has offered up many items. Two flight suits, actually worn on combat missions (but he’s washed them), a pilot’s helmet (cracked, but still a great conversation piece, and ball caps from the George HW BUSH or RONALD REAGAN carriers. Oh, and then there is a printed out and signed copy of his onlone novel or blogvel, “Rhythms.”

Here’s my advertisement for Le’xs book (feel free to cut and paste this into an email you’ll send to everyone you know, and add to it if you’re read his work!):

What if you had the chance to own a draft copy of “The Hunt for Red October” or “Team Yankee,” before anyone in the publishing world had heard of guys named Clancy or Coyle? What would that be worth, not only in bragging rights, but in terms of real historical value? A soon to retire Navy Captain, and F/A-18 aviator for his entire career, with shipboard, command, and TOPGUN instructor jobs in his wake has typed out a read that certainly equals, if not exceeds the fine works of those action novel authors we have come to see being wildly successful. “Rhythms” is such a work. In the auction to support Valour-IT, you have the truly rare opportunity to cheat history and get you own original, signed hard copy of this novel, that not only puts you in the cockpit, but make the adrenaline flow as if you were there. Gripping, edge of your seat, begging for more emotions will overwhelm you as you take a journey from the deck of a carrier launching combat missions, into the minds of the pilots as they focus on putting ordnance where it counts, and also below decks, where the many thousands make it possible. Expensive propopsition? Sure, but how much would you pay for that draft of “Red October” if you had it all to do again? And, oh, NOT AVAILABLE IN ANY STORE NEAR YOU (or not near you)!

OK..GET THE WORD OUT!!!!!

Update: I misspoke: From My Position and Home Front Six are not related….but…have complimentary stories that link together.

A two milblogs, “From My Position” and “Home Front Six”, chronicle the beginnings of the Valour-IT program, not directly, but by telling the story of a wounded man, who has had to work his way back. He’s one of the fortunate ones, most of what he had before the IED hit his HMMVEE will be restored through the miracle of modern medical advances. Some of our service members will not ever be this lucky and may be user of the Valour-IT advances and adoption for the rest of their lives.

To bring the point home of how important and effective a program we have been pushing for 5 days now, Valour-IT, is so important, take a few moments and read a post by an Army wife, here.

The “teaser:”

Here is the bulk of the post that I made for the Project Valour-IT fundraiser last year. It still holds true today.

One of the things that MacGyver and I have talked about it how we would handle things should he be injured in the line of duty. It’s not a pretty conversation – things like that never are. But I am not a fan of surprises so I’d rather discuss this now, before he deploys.

Those of you who know MacGyver know what type of person he is. He is a very “hands on” type of person. He works a LOT with his hands.
[…]

In that post’s comments, Chuck, with a year plus of time since his wounding, comments in more detail about what it was like:

Let Macgyver (and your friend) know that it really isn’t the end of the world, it’s a setback. I love working with my hands, and do lot of projecs too… everything from brewing beer to refinishing furniture. It takes longer, and I have to take my time and actually watch what I am doing, instead of working by feel, and I think my playstation days ended a long time ago, but the hard thing to get through my head was that it wasn’t the end of the world. You have tyo adapt, and the fixes are neither immediate or easy.
Things that used to be easy, or even so simple I didn’t consider them, are now often insurmountable (like buttoning a cuff or collar.) I was once completely unable to bathe myself, my hands were so sensitive I couldn’t hold the poofy soap things.
[…]

Go and read that, too.

Fuzzilicious Thinking, the other person behind Valour-IT posted comments on Chuck’s comments, to add more depth to the discussion here. It’s also worth your time to click and to understand the issues better.
Read the rest, which is graphic, but it tell of the reality of those who suffer.

We made it! Wide area coverage (kinda like and E-2C on station – only a lot bigger!)

From Army Times:

“Bloggers compete to raise cash for computer charity” by Karen Jowers, Staff writer

A competition is raging among Internet bloggers to see who can raise the most money for voice-activated laptops that will be given to severely disabled service members.

The Veterans Day competition, which is organized by Valour-IT, began Monday. It’s goal is to raise $180,000 in 10 days; as of Thursday morning, the total was up to $51,068.
[…]

Thanks, Karen, for taking an interest!

Note: I take no pleasure is seeing someone suffer. One’s misforutne, in this case helps teach us all how lucky we are and I’m passing it along.

A member of Soldier’s Angels cuts one of her pinky fingers the day before Valour-IT starts it’s drive this year.

She gets it. Not a good thing to have to suffer to understand, but this thinker and blogger sees how even a minor disability to her typing skills is but a mere shadow of what many suffer from.

“Lessons Learned – Project Valour-IT”

As you know, I cut my finger pretty severely over the weekend, and am still waiting to find out whether or not I’ll need surgery. The pain has been manageable, but what’s driven me nuts is the impediment to my typing. I normally type about 100 or so words a minute, and now I’m back to feeling like a geek while I try to adjust to not being able to use my pinky. Doing everything with my hands requires some adjustment. I can’t get the stitches wet, so I need to shower with a plastic bag over my left hand. Add that to all the other times that I hit it on something, or have to adjust to the temporary loss of that digit, and it’s annoying at best, pretty painful at worst. At the most, I’ll need surgical correction. Either way, I’ll be splinted for several weeks, and will need physical therapy.

And that’s just one pinky, on one hand. A couple of months, and it’ll likely be back to normal. I can still type, although I have to adjust, and I can still do most things with relatively minor inconvenience. And my injury was do to a moment’s stupidity – my fault.

Read the rest here… and think about it.

Many of us respond to the graphical representations of things far more quickly than a nice tabular green line, wide format data sheet.

Ken of SmadaNek has posted tracking in PICTURES (you know, for us people who didn’t do well at skool and can’t rear or rite):

See it here!

I don’t get it. A national level politician makes a statement in clear English, and, those he spoke off take offense.

The media and the staffers, now, being smarter than us troglodyte type people who can only work at McDonalds or get stuck in Iraq, have to tell us what he really said. Could it be the liberalized education system, more enthralled with telling children to feel, rather than know things (like the English language), has failed us and made us too stupid? I guess we didn’t study hard enough to know what he said wasn’t what he said…our bust, sorry….

But, the pattern I see is a national leader makes a statement in public and, when pinned down by the fire from those offended, he sneaks off to offer an apology in a completely inappropriate forum.

Senator Durbin is the first one I’m talking about. Now, Senator Kerry, makes a public statement and follows it up with more public statements telling us to just swallow the joke he bungled (jokes he loves so well), but, now posts a statement on his web site saying he apologizes for his offense “to anyone he offended” (Yeah, not like I think I did, but if it offended you, then I’m sorry).

Let me see: Durbin doesn’t go to GTMO and face those he called Nazis, but goes to a local (read: Friendly) veterans group in his district, and says he’s sorry to WWII vets. Kerry says lots in public and defends himself in public, but places a post on a website that says something differenet from what he personally is heard saying.

Yep, don’t blame President Bush, Senator Kerry, blame the poor job of liberals in completely brainwashing entire generations so we’d know you didn’t mean what you said.